


like a butler pushing on a bookshelf

by forfree



Category: J. Cole, Miguel - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Noice, aaahhh just something small i thought of at like 2 am this morning and i had to write it!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 06:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6108692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forfree/pseuds/forfree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Miguel,” he said breathlessly, “I just want-” he paused as he jumped a fence. “I just want to say that I told you so.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	like a butler pushing on a bookshelf

The stars seemed to be shining extra bright and the moon seemed to be out for Jermaine and Miguel and nobody else. 

 

“Do you think that someone- wait, fuck, also something- could be out there watching us?”

 

Jermaine turned his head toward Miguel, whom he was currently lying with at the small park that’s at the far end of their neighborhood. “It’s possible, yeah.”

 

Technically, the park’s gates closed at dusk, so they shouldn’t have even been at the park at that time of night, but Miguel had insisted that they still go and spend time together there. It’s not like Jermaine could ever turn down an opportunity to be alone with his boyfriend anyway, so they walked to the park, quietly argued about how safe/legal it was to sit in the park after dusk, and then hopped the gates. Jermaine wondered if what they were doing now was worth all the trouble; after all, they were just lying in the uncomfortable mulch of the park’s sad excuse for a playground and talking about the same things they always do. 

 

For a second, Jermaine thinks that they could’ve had this same experience at home and drastically cut down their chances of getting into trouble, but he takes a moment to assess his current situation in full.

 

He’s lying next to a beautiful boy (whom he didn’t think could get any more beautiful until he noticed how ethereal he looked while he was bathed in moonlight), the stars are out, and the entire world seems to be on the same page as him for once. He feels as light as a feather; he feels as if the only things keeping him grounded are the irritation that lying on the weirdly-textured ground has caused and the fact that he’s constantly pinching himself. He’s slowly becoming familiar with the fact that this moment is real and that he’s in love, and it’s entirely better than any movie or book could ever describe. 

 

“Seems like something’s got you pretty deep in thought, J,” Miguel said as he turned on his side to face his boyfriend.

 

Jermaine smiled as he looked up at the moon, overcome with a slew of warm, fuzzy feelings that he would totally label if he weren’t so caught up in the moment. “You could say that.”

 

“Penny for your thoughts, babe,” Miguel replied.

 

“I’m thinking about you- well- I’m always thinking about you, I’m thinking about me, I’m thinking about how amazing things are right now, like in this moment, being with you here in this park, on this uncomfortable ass mulch- But most of all, I’m thinking about how lucky I am to have you by my side.”

 

Jermaine noticed that Miguel began to gape at something behind him, and before he could find out what was going on, the glaring beam of a flashlight shone in his eyes. 

 

He watched, temporarily frozen due to complete shock, as Miguel scrambled to get to his feet. “Shit,” Miguel shouted as he ran, almost tripping over his own feet because he couldn’t stop looking back to see if Jermaine was okay.

  
  


As Jermaine got to his feet and started to run, he decided that he appreciated that. After all, it’s the thought that counts, right? 

 

As an unknown person (probably a cop) ran after him and his boyfriend, Jermaine had a surprisingly strong urge to shout, “I told you so!” at Miguel.

 

So that’s exactly what he did.

 

“Miguel! I fucking told you so,” Jermaine shouted. “I fucking told you this wasn’t gonna end well!”

 

However, Jermaine was afraid he’d lost Miguel, because it seemed to be that he was running in front of him one minute and then he’d suddenly vanished the next, because he couldn’t hear anything from Miguel and he couldn’t see him either. That seemed impossible due to the fact that the person pursuing them had their flashlight on, but Jermaine still considered it. 

 

When he thought about it, he realized that he hadn’t seen Miguel since he’d run off initially; while he was processing that some more, something forcefully tugged at the leg of his jeans and caused him to fall into the grassy ditch next to the road he was running on. Jermaine was about to scream, assuming that someone was probably about to kidnap him or something, but before he could do that, he was tackled by someone much smaller than him.

 

“Fuck, shut up,” Miguel hissed as he got off of Jermaine and onto his feet. “We’ve gotta keep running, man.”

 

As Miguel spoke, the person chasing them (who turned out to be a cop) shined their flashlight into the ditch they were hiding in and proceeded to scream at them. Jermaine and Miguel climbed out of the other side of the ditch, putting distance between them and the cop. As they continued to run, Jermaine still had the urge to nag at Miguel as he followed him.

 

“Miguel,” he said breathlessly, “I just want-” he paused as he jumped a fence. “I just want to say that I told you so.”

 

“I heard you say that earlier,” Miguel replied as his running slowed to a jog.

 

“Why’re we stopping? Do you think we lost them?” Jermaine asked, breathing heavily. He felt like his lungs would either shrivel up or get coughed up. 

 

They’d stopped in a large field that was far behind the older houses in the neighborhood. Miguel simply nodded and proceeded to point to some trees in the distance. “You see those lights through the trees?” Miguel asked.

 

“Yeah. Why?” Jermaine replied.

 

Miguel started walking towards the trees, finding a spot that was void of branches and large enough for them to crawl through. He stepped through and gestured to the convenience store in front of them with a proud grin on his face. “That, my friend- or should I say.. boyfriend, is the 7/11 in all its glory. You want a slushie?” 

 

“Fuck yeah, I do. Your ass made me run around the neighborhood, I’m thirsty as hell,” Jermaine said.

 

Miguel reached for Jermaine’s hand as they walked to the entrance of the store. In response, Jermaine stopped walking, crossed his arms, and turned his nose up at Miguel and his attempt to hold hands.

 

“Wow,” Miguel said, drawing the word out as he turned to Jermaine, “Why so cold, baby? Hold my hand, c’mon.”

 

Jermaine struggled to keep a smile off of his face. “I’m still mad at you,” he muttered.

 

“And why is that, J?” Miguel asked.

 

“Because I told you so,” Jermaine said.

 

Miguel gave an exaggerated groan of exasperation. “You’re so dramatic,” Miguel giggled. “Fuck, how’s this? I’ll buy you some powdered donuts.”

 

Jermaine’s face lit up. “Really?”  

 

“I’ll only do it if it gets me the only thing I want in life, the one thing I can’t live without,” Miguel said dramatically.

 

Jermaine laughed. “And what would that be, Miguel?”

 

“The ability to hold hands with you,” Miguel said. “I think I’d die if I couldn’t hold your hand. In fact, I think I’m dying right now.” Miguel took Jermaine’s hand and put it against his cheek. “I feel so cold. You feel that? I’m cold, I’m wasting away.”

 

Rolling his eyes and chuckling, Jermaine took his hand away from Miguel’s cheek and held hands with Miguel in the way that normal people would. “You’re so fucking weird. I hope you know that, Miguel.”

 

“It worked, though. We’re holding hands now,” Miguel said matter-of-factly.

 

“It did work, you’re right.”

 

Jermaine and Miguel walked into the 7/11 and bought slushies. Miguel’s slushie was cherry flavored and Jermaine’s slushie tasted like green apples. They roamed around the store, looking at the overpriced DVDs and the CDs that had obscure music by very obscure people on them.

 

Jermaine picked up a copy of Rolling Stone and flipped through it as he stood at the magazine rack. He looked out of the window and noticed a patrol car pass the store a few times before parking in front of it. Thankfully, the person in the car didn’t park in front of the store’s windows, so Jermaine and Miguel hadn’t been seen yet. 

 

“Jermaine, I got some powdered donuts-”

 

“Yo, hold that thought, come on,” Jermaine said quietly as he rushed to hide behind the shelves so that they couldn’t be seen by anyone entering the store, dragging Miguel with him by the sleeve of his hoodie. The manager (and the only person in the store beside Miguel and Jermaine), Rick, gave them a look of confusion as they peeked from behind a shelf. 

 

The bells above the store’s doors rang as someone entered. As Rick said hello to them, Jermaine and Miguel had to remind themselves not to hold their breath. 

 

“Hi, have you seen two boys pass through here? One is about five-foot-three, with dark skin and curly hair,” the person said, “The other is around six feet tall and he has lighter skin and dreadlocks of some sort.”

 

Jermaine took a chance and peeked at the counter Rick was at. He saw him glance at the shelf Jermaine was behind, and he got paranoid. He vividly imagined Rick yelling, “Yes, officer! Those delinquents are right here!” right before dramatically knocking the shelf over to reveal a startled Jermaine and Miguel.

 

“Miguel and his friend come around here all the time. I haven’t seen them here this week, though. I hope they didn’t ditch me for the manager of another convenience store,” Rick said as he began to laugh.

 

The officer didn’t laugh with him. Instead, she just looked around for what seemed like an eternity before she turned, went to get coffee from the machine in the corner of the store, and started to walk around.

Jermaine and Miguel listened intently for the sound of her footsteps; she had boots on and she had a stocky build, so they made a  _ thump _ sound as she walked. Jermaine could tell that she was getting close to the back of the shelves where he and Miguel were. They started to go into the aisles, keeping their heads low and looking through the small holes in the shelves to keep an eye on her as she moved.

 

Jermaine and Miguel saw her stop 2 aisles down from them and heard the crinkle noise that came with her choosing a snack to buy. She then began her walk back to the counter and they had to quietly rush to go hide behind a shelf again. They got uncomfortably close to being seen, but according to the officer, they still weren’t there, so they were fine.

 

Jermaine saw Miguel peek out from behind the shelf for a split second before pulling his head back with a scowl on his face. Jermaine looked at him as if to ask what was wrong, but Miguel just shook his head and listened to Rick make small talk with the officer.

 

She’d bought cigarettes and talked about her husband, her two dogs, and just about everything and everyone else in her life. Miguel and Jermaine felt like they were hiding behind that shelf for hours before she left and Rick told them that they could come out.

 

Miguel ran to the aisle he’d gotten Jermaine’s donuts from and frowned. “One, she said I was five-foot-three and I know I’m short, but I’m not that short! Two? I was fucking right! She took the last of the chocolate-covered donuts! That lady stole my donuts-”

 

“ _ Your _ donuts?” Jermaine interrupted.

 

“Yes.  _ My donuts _ . When I went to get your stupid powdered donuts,” Miguel said as he tossed said donuts at Jermaine. “I saw the chocolate ones and I like, totally called dibs on ‘em.”

 

“Miguel, that’s not how it works,” Jermaine said, beginning to mock Miguel. “You can’t ‘ _ like, totally call dibs _ ’ on shit you haven’t even bought yet.”

 

“I know that, shut up! I’m still mad, though.”

 

“So,” Rick piped up from the counter, “What was all of that about?”

 

“Oh, Miguel convinced me to go to the park with him after it had been closed  _ for an entire hour _ ,” Jermaine explained, glaring pointedly at Miguel.

 

“Jermaine, stop looking at me like that. Anyway, yeah, we went to the park after dark- that totally rhymes- and we got caught, so we started to run. Well, technically I started to run first, because I realized that Jermaine was right-”

 

“I was,” Jermaine said to Rick.

 

Miguel rolled his eyes and continued. “And I realized we were literally trespassing. So, to answer your question, that’s what all of this was about, and you don’t have to be alarmed because we are by no means delinquents.”

 

Rick sighed deeply, huffing out a laugh. “Y’all are always up to something, it seems.”

 

“It’s always Miguel’s fault,” Jermaine said seriously.

 

“No way! That’s a lie. Remember that one time you convinced me to sneak out so that we could go try to crash that concert One Direction was having?” Miguel said.

 

“Miguel, don’t even-”

 

Miguel turned to Rick. “I didn’t even know he liked One Direction, and I definitely didn’t think that he liked them enough to try to get into one of their concerts without paying.”

 

“In my defense, their tickets are expensive, and I’d used all of my money to take you on a date that month,” Jermaine said. “Also, let’s not forget that nobody forced you to come with me, Miguel.”

 

“You literally told me that getting into that concert would mean the world to you and that you’d love me forever if I went with you,” Miguel said.

 

“Fuck, that was only one incident, you’re so-”

 

Rick laughed.“I think you guys had better get home. It’s getting late.”

 

With that, Miguel and Jermaine told Rick goodbye and began to walk home. They’d took the route that they’d used when they wanted a change of scenery. The trees seemed to go on for miles and there was only one house on the entire path. There were beautiful, grassy fields where livestock fed, and they could always look up at the moon as they walked if they wanted to.

 

They held hands and made conversation quietly, routinely stopping their sentences to take sips from their slushies. Jermaine took a moment to assess his current situation.

 

He’s walking a beautiful boy home (this time he’s bathed in the pale glow of the streetlights they pass; his beauty is still otherworldly), the stars are out, and the entire world seems to be on the same page as him for the second time that night. He feels like he can take on the entire world; he feels as if the problems he has faced and will face don’t mean a thing at the moment. He’s finally become familiar with the fact that this moment is real and that he’s in love, and that words could never explain this moment or any of the moments he spends with Miguel, because he’s learned that love tends to be like that. 

 

They arrive at Miguel’s house and Jermaine watches intently as he climbs into his room through the window. He closes the window for a moment so that he can change into the clothes he sleeps in, but he reopens it just as quickly as he’d closed it. 

 

He looks at Jermaine for a moment before he speaks. “Hi.”

 

Jermaine smiles bashfully, and this causes Miguel to smile as well. “Hi,” Jermaine says softly. “I had fun tonight, Miguel.”

 

“I had fun too, J,” Miguel says as he leans out of the window, his face closer to Jermaine’s. “Thanks for coming with me.”

 

“Don’t mention it. Who am I to turn you down, anyway?” Jermaine asks. “You know I’d do anything for you.”

 

Miguel laughs quietly before he goes silent, taking a moment to just look at Jermaine; he loved everything about him. He loved his beauty, inside and outside, and he couldn’t get enough of him.

 

“Are you gonna kiss me goodnight or just stare at me?” Jermaine inquired. “I mean, either way, I’m cool.”

 

Miguel grins as he leans in to kiss Jermaine. “What am I going to do with you?”

 

“Hopefully, you’ll kiss me, but you can do whatever,” Jermaine says softly.

 

Jermaine’s heart pounds, and that always occurs when Miguel gives him the time of day, so he’s used to it. He took everything around him in; the way Miguel’s skin looked so beautifully radiant in the moonlight, the smell of the clean night air, the sound of the crickets, who only made their presence known in the night. Jermaine leans in, his lips meeting Miguel’s tenderly. His eyes close, and he tastes the cherry flavoring from Miguel’s slushie and gets goosebumps. Miguel’s hands are holding the back of his neck, keeping him close, and Jermaine wonders if he’s in a dream. If things went his way, he'd never stop kissing Miguel. He'd be able to relish in the feeling of his soft lips for as long as he'd like. 

 

When they part, Jermaine’s eyes open, the first thing he sees is Miguel’s soft smile and he swears he’s on cloud nine. Miguel begins to mess with the frayed drawstrings of Jermaine’s jacket as he tells him he loves him. Jermaine can’t look Miguel in the eye- not because he doesn’t feel the same, because he definitely feels the same, but because he feels like he might malfunction in some strange way due to the way looking at Miguel makes him feel. It makes me feel like there’s not a single thing he can do; he can run a mile (he definitely proved that tonight), he can take on entire armies, he can do anything.

 

“I love you, too,” Jermaine says with a smile. He doesn’t think he’ll ever stop loving Miguel. He’s fine with that, though.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hi f uc k this was something in my head that i had to get out ik it might suck so u can yell at me


End file.
